The Fairy-Tale Detectives
The Fairy-Tale Detectives ''is the first book of the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley Dedication ''"In memory of my grandparents, Basil and Relda Gandee" Acknowledgements "I'd like to thank my editor, Susan Van Metre at Amulet Books, who's guidance helped me find the book inside my idea; my agent, Alison Fargis of the Stonsong Press, for taking a chance on me; Joseph Deasy, who was honest enought to tell me when my writing stunk; my love, Alison, for telling me when Joe was wrong; Jonathan Flom, for all his support over the years; Joe Harris, for being a good friend; my parents, Michael and Wilma, for filling our house with books even if the checking account was empty; and Daisy, who was patient when I was too busy writing to take her for a walk." Book Description Sabrina and Daphne Grimm find out that they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm and get sucked into the family business. Their first case? Trying to stop a giant from destroying their hometown. Official Synopsis In book one of this bestselling series, sisters Sabrina and Daphne are sent to live with their mysterious grandmother, Relda Grimm. The sisters learn they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, whose famous book of fairy tales is actually a collection of case files. The girls are the latest in a long line of fairy-tale detectives, and their new hometown is filled with Everafters (as magical folks like to be called)—some good and some very, very bad. When a mysterious Everafter sets a giant loose on the town, it’s up to the Sisters Grimm to save the day. Plot Prologue Sabrina and Daphne are running through a forest, despite being exhausted. They're trying to find a way to stop a vicious monster, regardless of the fact they are but children. The end of the prologue is Sabrina wondering what had happened to their lives. Chapter 1 (Two Days Ago) The chapter begins with Sabrina thinking that she'll 'die of boredom here'. She and her sister are being brought to Ferryport Landing by Minerva Smirt, their caseworker who keeps on finding them horrible homes for them to live in. Daphne, her younger sister however, is constantly bombarding Smirt with questions about the town. Smirt claims to have found their Grandmother, someone who is willing to take them in. Sabrina however does not believe her due to the fact that her father told her that her grandmother died before they were born. After reminding Ms. Smirt of the terrible homes that she had sent them to, Sabrina recalls the day her parents disappeared. She remembered that she rushed home with her report card then taped it to the refrigerator for everyone to see. Her parents didnt arrive home yet, and she didnt find anything wrong about it up until Daphne's teacher called to asks why no one picked Daphne up yet . The police and a social worker came three days later, bringing them to the orphanage, while the police looked for clues, finding nothing but a blood red handprint on their abandoned car. After a while, they meet their Grandmother and Mr. Canis, who bring them to their house in an old, noisy car. They go home where Mrs. Grimm knocks three times on the door and says "We're home." and when they go inside they find many weird things that make Sabrina suspicious of the old lady even more. They are also introduced to her Great Dane Elvis and her weird and bizarre cooking. While eating dinner, Sabrina questions if Mrs. Grimm is in fact their grandmother, angrily storming off to their room, bringing Daphne with her. That night Sabrina contemplates on ways to escape from the house, up until Sabrina suspects she saw someone in a tree. Instead of seeing the person though, she sees little lights that she and Daphne find pretty, opening the window up until Mr. Canis walks in and exclaims "Girls, you'll leave that window closed if you know what's good for you!" Chapter 2 Mr. Canis locks the window and says that they are to never let anyone in the house. Mrs. Grimm then comes into the room telling the girls not to be upset at his behaviour, and that there will be a few rules that they have to follow, and that what she tells them might not make sense but rules are there for a reason. The rules she give them are that no one may enter the house without Mr. Canis or her permission, and that there is a room they are forbid to go in. That night, Sabrina tries to get Daphne to escape, as they did with their previous homes. They stole the keys from Mrs. Grimm and escape to the forest. They see Elvis, who starts to make a lot of noise, and the bright lights (lightning bugs, as Sabrina calls them) and they start biting Daphne, causing her to bleed.Mrs.Grimm blows some blue dust at the pixes and they fly away Mrs. Grimm finds them and brings them back inside to treat to Daphne's wounds. In the morning they eat more of her strange food, and find out Canis is nailing their window shut. Canis also buys them strange and tacky clothes for them to wear. Relda says that it's exciting that they already have a mystery. She goes to the secret room, where she talks to someone, who the girls think is Mr. Canis.They discover that it was not Mr. Canis she was talking to, because Mr. Canis was waiting outside at the time. Later, she and Canis also talk about their 'neighbor' whom Canis earlier had a conversation with. They arrive at a crime scene where there is a broken house. Relda says that they are 'investigating a crime'. There they meet Mayor Charming and Mr. Seven. Charming and Relda have a disagreemant, as does Canis. They find a leaf from a giant beanstalk, causing Mrs. Grimm to think that a giant stepped on the house, which makes Sabrina think she's crazy. Then they find a giant footprint. Chapter 3 Sabrina and Daphne believe that there's no such thing as giants. Which leads Relda to tell them about their family history, that fairy tale creatures (Everafters, as the previous term is quite rude) exist, and that all the fairy tales are true, recorded by the Brothers. She also reveals that there is a barrier seperating them from mortals and that there must always be one Grimm inside of the barrier so that no Everafters can escape. Sabrina thinks that she is a lunatic and claims that none of it is real. The next day, Relda reviews the clues from the day before, and Charming is revealed to be Prince Charming. They later go to Ferryport Landing Memorial Hospital to visit Thomas Applebee. When they arrive they find Glinda erasing his memory, destroying their chances of asking him questions about what happened. Instead they ask his wife, Mrs. Applebee some questions instead. She said there was a British man asking if he could rent the place, he was very friendly, but when Thomas refused he got quite nasty. He then came back and offered them a trip to New York, to which Mrs. Applebee agreed to, however Thomas doesnt care about the city, making her go with her sister. The hotel had no record of a reservation, the man's name was mayor charming . Sabrina once again refuses to believe Relda's claims, and tries to come up with a possible answer of her own, although there are many loose ends in her theories. Then two men try to make Relda give up on the case, but she refuses. The chapter ends with them saying "Lady, it's you whose going to have the regrets. Chapter 4 Daphne tells the goons to leave Granny Relda alone, rushing forward to kick one in the shin. Canis manaages to beat the goons, and they escape. Then Relda continues to explain to the girls about Everafters. Sabrina then exclaims she knows the difference between reality and fairy-tale, once again, showing that she doesnt believe what her grandmother is telling her. Then, a giant appears and asks where Englishman is. The giant then takes away Canis and Relda. Daphne then tells Sabrina that she was being a big snot for not believing her and declares she's going to rescue her family. Chapter 5 Sabrina and Daphne walk with Elvis, both not talking to each other. Sabrina doesnt think that she and Daphne can defeat a giant, but Daphne reveals that she was able to get Granny's handbag, containing the keys to the room. They also find a picture of her parents along with Relda and Canis, labeled 'the Grimm Family', making them wonder why Henry didnt tell them about them. Officer Hamstead appears to bring them back home, and in the car it turns out he's an Everafter as well. But then they find him talking to Charming, making them escape from the car, into the forest. The lights appear again, leading them to somewhere in the woods, soon they arrive at this place witha pile of junk. In the center there is a boy sitting on a junk throne with a golden crown on his head. The pixies tell him they have found spies and he replies with "What do we do with spies? That's right, we drown them!" Chapter 6 The boy leads them to a pool where he tells them to state their crimes, saying that they 'took away the old lady from him'. Sabrina explains that they're trying to save her, as she was taken away from a giant. The boy untied their wrists and asked them about it, but instead Sabrina pushed him in the pool, but he emerges from the water with two big, insect like, wings. Daphne then mistakes him for Peter Pan and he exclaimed that he was Puck, the Trickster King from A Midsummer's Night Dream. He agrees to help under the circumstances that they nevr reveal he helped them, as he thinks he's a 'villain of the worst kind.' They go back home and read more things about giants, they also find out Charming is trying to rebuild his kingdom. It turns out that Englishman and Charming are the same person, and since giants are pretty dumb, he was able to get one to scare people off their land and anyone who doesnt sell gets squashed. They find a letter from Granny Relda which tells them to go to the room they are forbidden to enter. When they get there, a voice shouts "WHAT IS GOING ON THERE?", startling them, making them go back down and get 'equipmnet'. Each of them were wearing stuff like strainers as hats and all that. They send Elvis in first, but they are unsuccessful, the chapter ending with the voice saying "I WILL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND" Chapter 7 The voice finds out that they are the grandchildren of Relda (and Puck). It turns out that he is the Magic Mirror from Snow White. They ask if Granny Relda is still alive, to which Mirror shows that yes, she and Canis are; and who can help save her, Mirror tells them they need the help of Jack the Giant Killer who is currently in jail. They hear someone knocking and Mirror says that the local authorites arrived. Mirror gives them the magic carpet, which they ride to Ferryport's Jail. There they meet Jack, he agrees to help them, as long as they break him out of jail. Chapter 8 Jack already has a plan, but Sabrina refuses to use it due to it being too violent, so she comes up with her own plan. In order to distract Ichabod Crane, the only deputy in the jail. Sabrina pretends to be the Headless Horseman, another character from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the story Crane came from. Because Crane is scared, he hands over the keys to Sabrina, letting her release Jack from jail. Crane tries to stop them upon discovering their true identities, they are still able to go home, using Carpet. On their way home, they come across a giant, although they are able to go home without getting hurt. Puck doesnt like Jack, and tells Sabrina that he'll get them into trouble, but Sabrina doesn't mind him. Jack comes up with the plan of sneaking into Charming's office during a ball. They go to Mirror in order to get disguises, but Jack also wants Dorothy's slippers, but Mirror doesnt want to give them to him, although he eventually does. They also come across a room for Magic Beans, the ones in Jack's fairytale. For the disguises, they use the wand of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, transforming them into the Tin Woodsman (Daphne) and Momma Bear (Sabrina) Chapter 9 Jack gives the girls walkie taklies in order to communicate with them when they go to Charming's Mansion . They use the Slippers in order to transport themselves there. There they meet numerous Everafters such as Beauty and the Beast, and then White Rabbit. At the party many Everafters there hate the Grimms. They also find out that their parents have been kidnapped but Briar Rose and Mr. Seven interrupt. The Queen of Hearts question Charming's leadership, saying that she would make a much better ruler. They go upstairs to try to break into Charming's office, but he catches them and says that Momma Bear is supposed to be in hibernation since it's almost December. He tells them that they should tell them who they are, or the bear's head is joining the others on his wall. Chapter 10 The chapter begins with Charming telling them he's not interested in joining the Scarlet Hand. Chapter 11 Category:Books (real-world)